Tale of a Misnamed Creature
by Dilandau2
Summary: The tale of a boy named Shakudo and how he came to be Kodachi's close friend.
1. The beginning of a journey

It all started here, in the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. Or are they blessed? I can't be sure...  
  
Tale of a misnamed creature  
  
By Dilandau  
  
  
  
"Darling, go out and fetch me some fresh water from the stream, alright?" A mother smiled down at her six-year-old son and ruffled his hair affectionately. He laughed and smiled back.  
  
"Okay Mother!" The young boy took the bucket and ran out of the hut, which was located in the swampy jungle village that he and a bunch of other people lived in.  
  
"Oh, hello Shakudo." An elderly woman of the village grinned at him, giving a toss of her graying hair, which hung loosely down to her feet.  
  
"Hello Grandmother!" He responded  
  
"I see your mother is giving you more responsibilities lately. You're becoming a man now, just like your father, neh?" His grandmother laughed cheerfully as Shakudo puffed his bare chest out with pride and tried to stand up straight.  
  
"Yes Grandmother, I'm going to be big and strong and I'll protect this village and..."  
  
"I'm sure you will, grandson of mine. Go and run your mothers errand now, we don't want to keep her waiting." With that, she gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the stream and waved to him. He smiled and waved back. She sighed to herself when he was well out of sight and prayed for his safety, for she had been getting a vibe that something bad was going to happen to him....  
  
Oh, where was the stream again? Shakudo had been there plenty of times with his mother...but now he couldn't find his way.  
  
"I have to! Or else Grandmother and Father and Mother will never trust me again! Everyone is depending on me!" He said out loud with newfound determination.  
  
Suddenly, his ears caught upon the sound of water from the east. Ah ha! He thought to himself. Found you!  
  
He ran over to the source of the water but when he got there he saw something he wasn't expecting. Many little pools of water...this wasn't the stream he had come to so many times. However, looking down into the crystalline pools, they looked clean enough to drink from. He would have to tell his mother this later, but for now he needed to get water.  
  
He walked over to a pool and submerged his wooden bucket, pleased with himself for finding a new source of water. Then he suddenly had an idea. It was such a hot day and the water looked -so- inviting...maybe he would stop to take a bath before he went back. Setting his bucket off to the side, he stripped and was about to jump in when out of nowhere....  
  
"No! Sir...sir...little boy! You must not jump in there! These springs...they have a terrible curse on them!!"  
  
However, he was not in time. Shakudo had already jumped and couldn't stop his connection with the water.  
  
*SPLASH!*  
  
Shakudo felt a terrible pain and let out a scream as his mouth and nose jutted outward, scales covered his skin, and his already small body shrunk even more as his bone structure changed completely. What was happening? His scream gradually changed into a tiny squeak as he whipped his newly formed tail and climbed onto land, collapsing.  
  
"Oh, this is very tragic indeed. I tried to warn you..." The tour guide sighed, went inside and got a kettle of hot water. He scooped the tiny, newly formed alligator into his arms and walked towards where he thought the boy had come from.  
  
----  
  
Disclaimers and junk: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or any of it's characters. Don't sue me!  
  
Some info and other stuff.  
  
The reason why the guide is talking normally is because he's talking his native language, Chinese which Shakudo also speaks. According to the Jap Dictionary, Shakudo means scale, so that's where I got the name from. Hope you're enjoying the story so far! You can kind of see the direction in which this is going...I didn't want to be too obvious, but...it can't be helped. n_n; 


	2. Part 2

Tales of a Misnamed Creature Chapter 2  
  
By Dilandau  
  
  
  
"Shakudo? Son? Wake up!!" Shakudo gave a long moan and opened his eyes slowly. Looking around, he saw that his mother had his head propped up and his father and grandmother were also crowded around him.  
  
"Mother?? What happened?" Shakudo questioned tiredly. What had just happened? Shakudo's memory was blurry...he could only remember some of the events that took place.  
  
"I'm not sure, Memori said she heard something in the bushes and your father came to see what it was..." His mother replied, but was cut off by her husband.  
  
"Yes, I came over to see what it was...and then I found you in the bushes, passed out. I thought you went out for water, what happened?" He questioned his son.  
  
"Well...all I can remember is that I found some pools of water, not the spring you told me to...but they looked clean enough so I dipped my bucket in... and since it was such a hot day I stopped to have a swim. That's all I can remember." Shakudo looked like he was going to cry so his mother gave him a hug.  
  
"Well, never mind that. You're safe, right? Now, it's getting late. Let's get you inside and in bed."  
  
His father carried him inside and set him down next to his younger sister, Memori, who was already curled up in peaceful slumber. Memori was only 5 years old but she was already stunningly beautiful for a girl her age. With her large innocent green eyes and long red hair, she could out compete any of the other village girls her age. Just like her mother could.  
  
Shakudo gave her a pat and curled up under his blanket, thinking. What -had- really happened? Was it worth worrying about? The day probably just got too hot and he had probably fallen asleep and dreamt of swimming, and maybe a traveler had been worried and took him back to the village? Yeah, that must be it. Nothing had happened...nothing.  
  
As Shakudo drifted off to sleep, however, the thought that something had -indeed- happened nagged at him all night...  
  
  
  
The next day didn't look promising as Shakudo stepped out of his house and looked up at the sky. Dark clouds held the Sun back from shining upon her people. At least it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday.  
  
"Aw, I hope it doesn't rain...Mother just made me a new dress." Memori whined as she grasped her brother's hand.  
  
"Aw, I'm sure we can get you to a dry spot if it does. Don't worry." Shakudo smiled down at her and ruffled her hair affectionately.  
  
She smiled. "Kay."  
  
In the middle of the day, the first few droplets escaped from the cloud and splashed onto the ground. Shakudo, Memori, and a few other villagers were deep in the forest gathering fruits when it came. One chose Memori as its target and splashed on her forehead.  
  
"Brothheer...can we go home now? You promiseddd..." Memori whined.  
  
"Sure, hey...I'll be right back, ok?" He waved to the other villagers, took Memori's hand and started to hurry home...however...he wouldn't be so lucky.  
  
It started to rain fiercely as they were running home and unfortunately, the rain was cold. It pelted Shakudo and he felt a change. And then he remembered the incident at the pools of water, how he had changed the same way.  
  
"Brother?" Memori stared wide-eyed at the transformation and slowly picked up the alligator out of the pile of clothes.  
  
"Brother?!" She shook him...Shakudo could tell she was in shock; he was as well. Then Memori tossed the alligator, scooped up his clothes and ran towards the village screaming and crying. Shakudo was stuck alone...in an unfamiliar body.  
  
---  
  
See chapter 1 for disclaimer.  
  
Some random stuff: Memori is another word for Scale...I don't know why, I like that word though.  
  
Some of you may be thinking to yourself "Big deal, why doesn't he just use hot water to turn back?" Later that will come into play...he doesn't know that right now.  
  
Sorry if this story doesn't feel like it's written in Ranma style...x_x I can't really do that too well. I hope you can look past that and enjoy the story anyways! n_n 


End file.
